'Jackie Brown,' 'Twin Peaks' Actor Robert Forster Dead At 78

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA)  -- Actor Robert Forster -- who for decades seemed to have the patent in movies and TV shows as the gruff but sympathetic villain -- has died.

Forster was 78.

He worked in front of the camera from 1967 through 2019 with no signs of slowing down.

The actor is perhaps best known for roles in the movies "Jackie Brown,"
"Medium Cool" and "Delta Force" and starring roles in series like  the reboot of "Twin Peaks,"

He also had recurring roles in shows like "Heroes," "Last Man Standing" and "Police Story."

It was playing the sympathetic bail bondsman Max Cherry that helped reignite Forster's stalled career.  He was nominated for an Academy Award for the tole.  The poster of an elephant trainer in Cherry's office was a nod to his father, a real-life animal trainer for Ringling Bros.

Rochester-born, the cause of death was given as brain cancer. His publicist told The Hollywood Reporter the actor died at his Los Angeles home.

Ever the speaker of truth, Forster was one of those actors who didn't mind admitting that some of the roles he took weren't about the art, they were about the commerce. Some of the roles were painfully beneath the stature of an Academy Award-nominated actor.

He would say, "I have four kids to feed."

Twice-divorced, Forster (born Robert Foster) had three daughters and one son.